Watchdog: Finally, some details about sewer plant theft

Wouldn't you know it — after tracking a story for more than a year, news finally breaks while I'm on vacation.

Regular readers of the News-Leader may recall that I've been reporting on allegations of misconduct at the southwest sewer plant (and the city's tight-lipped response to requests for information) for months. But "a watched pot never boils," as they say. Poetically, I was flying back to Springfield after a family trip when prosecutors filed charges Dec. 23.

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Amos Bridges(Photo: News-Leader)

Well, they filed a charge. Kelly Green, the former superintendent at the treatment plant, faces a single count of class C felony stealing. The charge carries a potential sentence of up to seven years in prison on a conviction. But I'll be surprised if Green, who is accused of using city resources on a 152-acre farm he owned in Polk County, spends time in a jail cell.

Rather than seek a warrant for his arrest, prosecutors simply mailed a summons, allowing Green to show up to court prior to his March 16 arraignment without going through the normal jail booking process. With no apparent criminal history, he's a likely candidate for a plea bargain, if he wants one.

Although a felony, the alleged crime for which Green is charged is relatively minor. Prosecutors allege that, between May 15, 2014, and Oct. 3, 2014, Green stole at least $500 worth of herbicide that had been purchased with city-owned credit cards. But the alleged misappropriation of city resources described in the supporting documents is more extensive.

The probable cause statement, completed by the Springfield police detective assigned to the case in October 2014, contains the first detailed description of the alleged wrongdoing made available to the public. Citing privacy concerns, the city has refused to say much of anything about its own investigation, and an external audit (completed in November 2014 but not released until a few weeks ago) analyzed credit card and inventory policies at the plant while avoiding talk of specific allegations.

Kelly Green, former superintendent of Springfield's Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant(Photo: City of Springfield)

So what, allegedly, was stolen from taxpayers? According to the six-page probable cause statement, the list of misappropriated goods and services includes:

About $17,500 of selective herbicides bought with city-issued purchasing cards. According to the probable cause statement, there was no legitimate need for the herbicides at the treatment plant, but Green and one his subordinates, Scott Foley, went through special training (at the city's expense) to be certified to apply and purchase the restricted chemicals. Foley, who resigned two days after Green in October 2014, told a detective Green ordered him to buy the chemicals for use in rehabilitating some city-owned land, although that work was never done. When questioned, Foley allegedly told the detective that Green used the chemicals on fields Green owned in Polk County. According to the statement, Foley said he personally delivered at least 65 gallons of the herbicide (valued at about $1,760) to Green's farm during the summer of 2014, and on another occasion returned a partially used barrel to city storage. Another witness, Price Watson, told police that Green hired him in August 2014 to spread herbicide (provided by Green) on the Polk County farm, which Green sold a few days after resigning his job at the city.

Spraying equipment Foley bought with city funds to apply the herbicide, along with a city-owned vehicle and trailer he allegedly used to deliver the chemicals to Green's farm. The probable cause statement doesn't make clear whether the sprayers are still in the city's possession or how much they cost, nor does it include an estimate for the unauthorized use of the city vehicle.

City-owned chain saws allegedly were used primarily on Green's property. Phil Costa, another treatment plant worker, told a detective that Green paid him to work Saturdays on the Polk County farm, building fences, herding cattle and cutting down trees, according to the probable cause statement. Costa said he used Green's chain saws the "first couple of times," but Green soon told him to bring city-owned chain saws to do the work, telling him "it's just chainsaws, it's alright," the document says. The version of the statement released by prosecutors, dated Dec. 23, doesn't include a cost associated with the chain saws, but an earlier version of the report (which the city posted briefly posted online) notes that Costa used a city-issued card to pay for about $1,667 in chain saw-related expenses from 2012 to 2014. In his interview with police, Costa estimated that 90 percent of the chain saws' use was on Green's farm.

Lab reports done by city staff on Green's behalf. According to the probable cause statement, police obtained more than a dozen soil analysis reports — completed by city staff — on samples taken from Green's farm. Jim Burks, the treatment plant lab manager, told police that he occasionally would perform soil tests for employees as a courtesy but would not have approved tests on such a large group of samples without official authorization. After checking with other lab staff, police determined that the samples were collected by Foley and Terry McConnell (a contract worker the city fired about the same time Foley and Green resigned). The Dec. 23 version of the probable cause statement does not include a value for the sampling, but the version first submitted by police estimates the cost of the 13 tests at almost $4,500.

Criminal charge only covers some of the allegations

Altogether, the estimated value of the goods and services outlined in the probable cause statement (including the final version and the one first submitted to prosecutors) comes to $23,000-$24,000, a bit shy of the $25,000 threshold for a class B felony.

Given the somewhat vague nature of some of the allegations, it's understandable that prosecutors chose to focus on the lesser charge. It's not clear, for example, that all of the herbicide purchased with city funds was taken. Witness statements included in the document describe what happened to only a portion of the chemicals.

And while others were involved in the alleged diversion of city resources, it appears Green will be the only one prosecuted. When I checked with the Greene County Prosecutor's Office this past week, Office Manager Rhonda Ogden said Springfield police did not request charges against anyone but Green and no further action is planned.

Both Costa and Foley, who allegedly admitted to actions that could be considered criminal, said they participated in the unauthorized use of city property only because they were ordered to do so by Green, their supervisor.

Costa, who told police he used city-owned chain saws while working on Green's farm, said he told Green "it wasn't right" but complied because Green "told him to do so," according to the probable cause statement. Based on the information in the statement, Costa appears to have cooperated with police. He remains employed by the city.

Foley, who is described as being more intimately involved in the purchase and delivery of the herbicide, also told police that he feared Green would retaliate against him if he didn't cooperate.

"I have to worry about my job ...," Foley said, according to police. Foley said Green told him, "If you're not up with this, I'll come after ya. And you know I will, cause you have seen me do it in other instances where I've done that, in the plant."

Foley was not always immediately forthcoming when questioned by police, according to the probable cause statement, and in several instances only admitted details of the alleged thefts when confronted by police. But Foley, who resigned his city job two days after Green, provided some of the most direct information implicating his former supervisor. Through an attorney, he later provided police with a receipt for herbicide he said Green told him to buy to replace some of the chemicals allegedly stolen for use on Green's farm.

Questions linger

As much detail as the probable cause statement contains, it still leaves a number of questions unanswered.

Little is said, for example, about McConnell, the contract worker the city fired a few days before Green and Foley resigned.

McConnell, who worked in the biosolids program managed by Foley, accompanied Foley when he purchased some of the herbicide "and taught Foley about them," according to the probable cause statement. He also allegedly helped collect the soil samples from Green's farm that were tested at the city lab.

Another reference to McConnell in the probable cause statement was intriguing: When asked why he had purchased the selective herbicide when it wasn't part of his job, Foley allegedly told police "he didn't know why he was told to buy them and didn't know about any type of agreement that Green may or may not have had with the McConnells."

There's no other mention in the report of any agreement between Green and McConnell.

Nor does the statement explain what happened to all of the of the selective herbicide allegedly purchased. According to the probable cause statement, Foley used his city-issued purchasing card to buy about $17,500 worth of herbicides — several hundred gallons, based on the prices quoted by police — between April 2012 and May 2015. But statements by the various witnesses regarding the chemicals allegedly used at Green's farm only account for a fraction of that amount.

The total cost to taxpayers also remains unclear. When the case was first referred to police, Chief Paul Williams estimated that $25,000 to $50,000 in city funds or property had been misappropriated. Auditors who helped scrutinize credit card purchases made by sewer plant staff at one point had flagged more than $88,000 in suspicious expenses, although some portion of that total may have been deemed appropriate after further scrutiny.

Whether police discovered answers to any of those questions remains to be seen. Under the Sunshine Law, policed investigative files are closed records until the case becomes inactive — in this instance, they'll become public records once the criminal proceedings against Green conclude, with a conviction and sentence, plea deal or finding of not guilty.

Until then, it's back to waiting. Maybe I should schedule another vacation to speed things along.